GM HOLDEN 304 V8 ENGINE RE-BUILD [EP1] 

Al -“I’m not an expert on Holden V8s”, proceeds to explain in intricate detail every GM V8 made in Australia!

One trick is to tell 'em stories that don't go anywhere - like the time I caught the ferry over to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for my shoe, so, I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em. Give me five bees for a quarter, you'd say. Now where were we? Oh yeah: the important thing was I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time. They didn't have white onions because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones...

Slick with the 8 ball this time! I enjoy its random appearances!

Forced induction is an irrelevant question, Al is not known as "naturally aspirated yoda"

The bag labeled "bolts" had me rolling

"Onions on our belts". love the Simpson's reference.

Who dropped their guts at 19:23 before the transition lol

So good to watch, my boyfriend has a 5L VS and I want to help him do a full engine rebuild to thank him for all the amazing things he does, and this has really helped. :)

Feel like i just got schooled for 28 mins! What an Ep, so good mate!

One of the best sounding V8s ever sold here.

Cracked open a VB tallie and put my mullet wig on for this one 🤟🏼

*sees Al leaning over a V8 Me: Aww yeah, bring on the twin turbo! Al: Nothin's off the table :>

A 304, an 8 ball, and a Simpsons reference. Spoiling us today Al.

Yeah we got Holden V8s down here in Tassie ... and yes they usually end up in the bushes ! Straight 6's seem to be the thing ....... they still end up in bushes.

Love this engine archaeology Al. You are a wealth of knowledge. Thanks for sharing.

I'm going to say that is the best episode you have ever done! The first fifteen minutes, pure history, and Al shining more and more with passion. I really enjoy hearing about all the odd quirks, silly decisions and fascinating past that makes a engine what it is today, or what it was then. Thanks so much for producing content that makes me proud to be an Australian. Great spit too Al.

Best sounding engine ever put in a car. So happy with this already.

Was 5044, went to 4987cc. This is the modern equivalent of ancient story telling. Passing down the ancient knowledge to the younger generations. Had one of these, XX3 (195kw). Wasn't massively strong, but was very smooth and with a manual was reasonably efficient. Good cruiser. The problem with a power number alone is that it doesn't always account for drivability. Power, Torque, rev numbers each is achieved at and the vehicle and driveline used are all contributors.

You can just see the hope on Al's face, waiting for Woody to ask if he wore brown or red onions on his belt... but alas, nothin'.

There's something so satisfying about hearing bolts crack loose. Cant wait to see what this goes in.

Methinks the "8 ball " 🎱 is looking for "10 mm" sockets!. We need a 10 mm socket emoji ? Looking forward to much Aussie V 8 Ness. Thanks for sharing.

Interesting history of this motor and dear Peter Brock's input to a 304 motor. Nice one.

Holden engine archaeology class, love it! I was always a crossflow boy, but this is still riveting

"And if i didn't say in inches, no one would know what I was talking about." I wish you knew how much I love you lol

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Really enjoyed learning the 304 history 👍.

Hell yes boys! My first car was a 304 VP Wagon. Stoked on this one.

Loving the eight ball surprises. Alan's knowledge on engines is outstanding. I learn something every time I watch these videos.

Al's commentary is informative and entertaining. As an american, I find the Australian mannerisms very entertaining

Could listen to Al talk about engines and just stuff for hours

wow guys... stepping up your audio game wit this video - great continuity and general awesomeness!

Holy shit Al, the knowledge you have is absolutely second to none. Crazy background and passion on everything on the skid factory

Thank you so much for this I love the Holden V8, my favourite engine. Driven 304’s as daily’s for many years and have a n/a 355 in the build for my VN Calais.

What a complete fountain of knowledge you are Al...bloody amazing

i have waited so long for an in depth video on this engine what a great engine builder an person awsum work guys kep it up

Yes! Finally back on a motor I know, stoked to see some GM stuff from you guys

This was the perfect love letter to the Holden V8. To my mind, you showed the engine and what it represented just as much love as it deserved - and not an ounce more 😂

Love it when Al gives the detailed history and knowledge. Cool to learn over here in the states. Now put two hair dryers on it.

So good to see old school and all the good info. Can't wait to see the turbo on this.

Like this post for Al and Woody to build a 355 stroker outta this!

Awesome work @skidfactory this brought back a lot of great memories pulling all nighters helping rebuild a mates 308 which ended up in my hands after he decided to sell his car. I eventually decided to stick this injection head and manifold combo on my VB commodore as they fitted that HQ red block, i still remember the engine number, it was a great little combo that I still miss today

Very educational thanks for the info I didn't know anything about those engines as an American . Please keep up the great work

BRILLIANT!!! I'm about to build a 304, first ever attempt at building an engine! A box of lemon squash comin to ya after i finish 💪😎

MCM and Skid factory number 8 & 9 on trending, well done lads 👊🏻

Very informative. I learnt a lot. I have always had Holden V8's. I even had a blueprinted VK 5 liter which ran like a Swiss watch. My favourite.

This is so cool! Would Love to see more engine teardowns/ Australian motoring history lessons.

You're onto it with the splayed 4 bolt main caps Al, Steve Morris agrees with you on that and I think he knows a thing or 2 about big strength, high horsepower engine design 👌 I have a couple of VS generation 304s and an old blue 253 sitting in my shed at the moment 🤣

Very cool as always, had a VR with 304 , first engine didnt get real tired til it had over 500000 ks on it. Good old things!

I'm glad you mentioned the main bearing side clearances, everyone else seems to overlook it. My vertical clearances check out, but the sides of the bearings are 3 thousandths more narrow, which is smaller than the crank! I hope it seats better when I put the crank in, otherwise I guess I need to swap bearings until they check out.

Excellent info with the story of these engines, one of my favourite V8's

Currently working on my VR statesman and you sir are a god send

We had one of these at Tafe we pulled apart in our Cert 2 course, nice simple motors to work on!

Wish I could like multiple times. Also love the additional video at the end of your episodes. Keep up the great work. Also I’m a mechanic 25k north of Brissy. I dont get to do the kinds of things you guys are doing. Makes watching your videos very interesting and informative thank you guys

Love the commentary Turbo Yoda! Very knowledgeable and just pleasant to listen too

Aww HELL yea - an old school[based] pushrod V8!!! Gettin' that modern Haltech treatment! I'm looking forward to this!

Yeah the skid factory 🏭 Aussie 5L for the win !!

Story time with Al.. loved every minute of it 👌🏻

Another awesome video - thanks guys! Loved the history lesson with the 304 too.

I love it Al. A see thru plastic bag of bolts... Then labelling it "bolts" now you won't have to open it an look inside to know what it is! Classic.

YESS I AM WATCHING EVERY EPISODE AS ITS RELEASED I LOVE THESE ENGINES SO MUCH

Love the history lessons, you're real good at explaining things

I'm very confused by this engine but learned alot gonna have to research these further.

Always love the history lessons included in a teardown

Cool episode lads. Look forward to the next one. Just had to pull the 304 from my vt to fix an oil leak after nambour sprints the other week. Keep up the good work

Something soothing about an engine rebuild

Thanks for sharing your passion and knowledge about this engine Al. I own a 94VR CLUBSPORT 5Ltr my pride and joy for 5year's now and planning to keep it for ever, it sounds awesome and man she's pretty quick. Great video Al, it inspiring me how to look after my baby lol. Cheers bro. From Aotearoa NZ

Dowerin, WA, August 2003. Had to start my VC/SLE 253 in 0 (zero) Celsius. It actually started. Thumped like anything, but it ran.

Good work. I had a 308 333 stroker with vn heads and the banana manifold. Was a torque weapon.

Watching them take the bearings out makes me want to cry. This engine with supposedly 190k looks brand new compared to mine with around 120k. My bearings were so worn that the copper was showing on nearly every crank/piston bearing. I don't even want to think about what the cam will look like when I take the top end apart. SERVICE YOUR ENGINES PEOPLE!!!

Good on ya mate for all ur information and experience

New build, instant like. Nice lump of engine those 304s. My cousin had a freak stock 253 4-door Torana that was always kept immaculate. We were coming back from the Surfers Drags one afternoon back in about 1977/78 (I think). There were 5 of us in it and an SL/R 5000 motored up beside us on the highway (with a car-full as well) and challenged us (best way to describe it back then). My cousin's car ate the slur. One might argue the SLR was neglected engine-wise, but then, that 253 was a good engine.

The venerable Holden V8! I actually miss mine after watching this.

A truck load of technical info, thanks for everything you do :)

love how the 🎱 keeps making an appearance!

as a yank i find this engine series fascinating. i was scratching my head and glad turbo yoda gave a history lesson. would be cool to see one in a hot rod here in the 'states.

This bloke is a legend. Pissed myself at the squashed can and 8 ball. 🤙

Can't wait to hear it run

Enjoying the larger displacement builds- more skids- more fun. Leave those tiny car to Marty.

Have a vp bt1 after owning a few ls’s the 5 litre sounds so much nicer!

And the best history lesson I’ve had in 40 years.

Thanks guys, Looking forward to this one

So keen for this build! Those pistons, rods and crank are all stock and genuine, and the VR series 2 (if I remember correctly) to VT engines came standard with a double row chain. A fairly easy way to get some low cost power is to slap in some flat top pistons, zero the deck height and shave the heads with a bit of head work. The VT heads have heart shaped chambers to give them the extra compression over the previous gen 5 litres (pre VSIII). These simple things will bump the comp up to nearly 11:1 and the headwork will allow the engine to make upwards of 400hp at the crank. If you're going to stay with a roller cam, you're better off going with hydraulic roller tie bar lifters, as the spider plate is prone to cracking over any more than stock pressure/lift. It's definitely easier on the wallet to go solid or solid roller, but as you'd know, hydraulic roller cams have a better power band. Another great thing about the VT block is that the lifter castings are taller than previous blocks, which means you can pretty much run whatever you want without running into lifter void issues. Some advice that I'd give you (which I'm sure you're already aware of) is to de-burr the long oil "channels" in the valley. It helps with getting oil back down to the sump, which is a big issue with performance 5L engines. They tend to starve the bearings of oil because it all gets pumped to the top of the heads and gets stuck there. There is also a section of the oil pump that doesn't match up with the block surface that can be shaved down to match, and will improve flow.

one of my favourite sounding engines

Al's virtually encyclopaedic with his knowledge. Could listen to the man explain engines on repeat.

One of the best channels on RU-vid

6:06 Those rockers and aluminum pivot bridges look like USA Oldsmobile V8. On cars with infrequent oil changes, the center pair on the PCV valve side would wear causing a valve tap. The fix is to replace the rockers and pivots, a backyard fix is to look at the pivot, measure the amount of wear then file that amount off the bottom of the pivot.

A hard day at work is rewarded with a lemon squash and Skid Factory. Aw yiss.

Finally a good sounding v8 on the channel

Awesome video keen on watching how this build goes

This video is more Australian than a Maccas run in a VH Commodore with Acca Dacca on the radio and a pack of durries tucked up ya sleeve.

i knew nothing about Holden 304's before this. Thanks!

been snowing on and off all week here near bathurst nsw, but hey like u said we also have coolant

Yes, I cant wait to see what you do with it , Boosted would definitely be nice these engine's sound absolutely insane worked , Especially with a turbo , Id definitely suggest speaking to camtech for a beast of a roller cam for this thing 🤙 🤙 🤙 🤙 🤙 🤙

Its good to see u build more v8s on this chennel

😂😂😂😂😂😂 The can and the 8 ball :D Amazing the engine ever ran at all. Ahhhh I found that too funny.

We do a snow and V8's in Tas and your right a few do end up in the bushes, cornering never was their strong suit.

You're the man, Turbo Yoda.

Ilove those steely w/ beauty rings and stock center caps 💪 GREAT LOOK 🙌much love

Excellent video lads keep up the good work

Love learning about these old nuggets. Hope you ran all this info by Andrew 😂